New PS5 update makes the DualSense’s mic and speaker even better

By Tomas Franzese March 13, 2024

A DualSense and DualSense Edge sit on a table together. — Giovanni Colantonio / Digital Trends

Sony rolled out another beefy PlayStation 5 update today with the main goals of improving the speakers and mic on the DualSense and DualSense Edge controllers and deepening the number of Share Screen viewer interactions.

According to a PlayStation Blog post from when this update first entered beta testing in February, the speaker on the DualSense controller will now be able to output sounds more clearly at a higher volume. If you’ve been playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, this update is useful because it will make Chadley sound better when they are speaking through your DualSense. Sony also says it’s using machine learning to improve noise cancellation on the DualSense’s built-in microphone.

“Background noise from button presses and game audio are suppressed, resulting in a better voice chat experience,” the PlayStation Blog post states. Make sure you update both your console and DualSense controller today for access to these improvements. Once you do so, you’ll also see the option to adjust the PS5 power indicator’s brightness in your PS5 system settings menu.

Outside of those improvements, the other area that’s seen some major updates is Share Screen, the feature that lets players stream gameplay from their console to their friends. Following this March 13 update, Share Screen viewers now have the ability to move a pointer around on the screen. They can use this pointer to draw lines or ping certain areas of the screen to help the player hosting the stream. Viewers can also now also use emoji reactions.

This update is available to all PS5 owners now, while the Share Screen additions will come to that PlayStation App on mobile phones sometime later this month.

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Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

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